Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Terowie was where it was. I think it was stretching a very long bow to say that Defence requirements would be for 70 days of closure, when the history is that they have shut it down, or had an interruption, of three hours.

The rail is a critical piece of national infrastructure. It was built by the Howard government after 100 years of agitation. It was finally built, and the only thing that is going to make that rail pay—I do know a little bit about transport—is mining. We would need spur lines and bulk cartage of iron ore, or whatever minerals are commercially viable in that area, and get it directly to an export port.

I know that the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy in South Australia is a very vigorous, at times very controversial, character. I share his urgency about this. I share Senator Farrell's urgency about this. I hope Senator Fawcett is going to get up and have a go as well, because South Australia's fiscal position is not great. I had the awful experience of having 'horizontal fiscal equalisation' explained to me and I heard the term 'mendicant state' used with respect to Tasmania and South Australia. That is not a very good experience because that term refers to begging. We do not want South Australia to be the begging-bowl state. We want it to be a state that is growing, adding to the prosperity of citizens in South Australia and adding to the prosperity of Australia in full.

This is very important legislation and, I think—just from listening to his contribution—that Senator Johnston has been captured by the Department of Defence. He is the defence minister so that is probably entirely logical.

It is critically important to South Australia that we open this area up to exploration. I will give you a couple of examples of some of the things that the Labor government have done in this area. We have opened facilities in the electorate of Grey, directly in the vicinity of this area. I will give you some distances a bit later on. At Caritas College we spent $1.4 million on a trades training centre. At Umuwa, in the APY Lands, we spent $7.3 million on a trades training centre. At Streaky Bay we spent $2.1 million on a trades training centre. We spent $9.9 million on Eyre and Western Multi Trade Training Centre. At the Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre we spent $6.5 million.

What we have is a geographical area which is rich in resources. As Senator Farrell has said Geoscience Australia has identified an area with huge potential. We have surrounding communities which are not always doing it as well, economically, as they could. We have infrastructure which is capable of training people up to mine standards. In Whyalla they do a huge amount of the training for workers at Olympic Dam. They have highly technical training courses and they have entry courses. We even have courses where long-term unemployed people go in there for 12 weeks. They must meet hard-hat, safety-vest and other mine induction safety policies—no alcohol, no drugs; they are drug tested for 12 weeks. They are work hardened, they get experience and skills and they are promoted into the mining industry. The more opportunity we can create in the mining industry, in the electorate of Grey in particular, the more it will be vastly beneficial not only to South Australia and regional Australia but also to Australia as a whole.

In this environment, we have had delay. I dare say Senator Johnston's comments about the delay under the previous Labor government were shared by me, Senator Farrell, Minister Koutsantonis and others in the South Australian government, because we are impatient about this. We want to get this done. But I am getting the feeling that Senator Johnston's contribution was that Defence is probably running the argument and holds greater sway.

We also know that there have been other Defence areas in South Australia which have had problems consulting with the community around Whyalla. There have been court cases about land users and their rights. So we know it is a touchy issue, but that should not stop any South Australian on any side of this house pushing to open up this window of opportunity to make our state a more productive, better place to live and to provide more opportunity.

I will give you an example of what this sort of activity might mean. Woomera is 8.6 kays from Pimba. Pimba has always been a rail town; there are not a lot of people there, but it was quite a functional very small town, providing employment predominantly on the railways. Woomera is 79 kilometres from Roxby Downs. For those who know Roxby Downs, there are over 4,000 people there. There are 600 kids at school there. I had the absolute honour of officiating at a couple of functions there for BER, one at the Catholic school and one at the public school. There is a refreshing community, a young community, a new and vibrant community, and it is 79 kays from the Woomera area. The Woomera area, as we know, is 120,000 square kilometres, so there may well be a lot of additional travel. There is Andamooka. Andamooka is fast growing out of being a little village of isolated opal miners. They are providing accommodation and a workforce for Olympic Dam for those who choose not to fly-in fly-out.

Woomera is 181 kilometres from Port Augusta. Port Augusta is becoming an increasingly vibrant city. It has a lot of workers who do not fly-in fly-out; they drive-in drive-out. Woomera is 220 kilometres from Quorn. Woomera is 252 kays from Whyalla—and, if you visit Whyalla, book ahead, because the place is always busy. Fortunately, the predictions of the former opposition, now the government, that Whyalla would be wiped off the map were totally wrong. You cannot get a bed there.